For UAH 19,400 — in line from 4 a.m.: how "Winter Support" is being processed in Mykolaiv

As of 28 September in Mykolaiv, applications for the one-time assistance under the “Winter Support” program are being accepted at six points. The payment amount is 19,400 hryvnias, and it can be applied for until 30 October.

Despite the increase in the number of points, residents continue to queue from 4 a.m.. At the same time, after 2:00 p.m. there are almost no visitors at the document submission locations. Residents and the acting director of the Department of Social Protection of the Population of the Mykolaiv City Council, Nadiya Skopenko, told Suspilne about the situation.

The head of the department believes that the morning rush is caused by lists that people create themselves.

“The fuss is created by the people themselves: they sign themselves up. But for one person we spend five to ten minutes. So there’s no need to stand in line; you can simply come a little later,” — explained Nadiya Skopenko.

The city opened two additional points to reduce the load on the Inhulskyi and Korabelnyi districts. In the Zavodskyi and Central districts they had already processed 4,193 applications at that time, which were sent for verification.

Previously, when documents were accepted at four locations, about 700 people were registered at each site per day. After the additional points opened, the load decreased to approximately 250 visitors per day. In total, social protection specialists have fully processed more than 5,000 applications.

Resident Larisa came to the social protection office in the Zavodskyi district an hour and a half before opening. At 6:30 a.m. she was 36th in line.

“We get in line so we can leave earlier. Older people wake up early anyway. Either stand here from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., or spend the same amount of time now and leave here at around 10–11 a.m.. That way you save time,” — said Larisa.

Another resident, Lyubov, arrived at the new point at 7:30 a.m. to register her daughter. She chose this location because residents of both the Zavodskyi and Central districts can apply here, and it is closer for her. The woman sees no point in coming so early, since staff will not start accepting documents before opening.

A displaced person from the Kherson region, Nina, came to apply for assistance for the second time. This time she brought a chair with her because she has a disability and cannot stand for long. Last week the woman already saw a large queue here. She lives in Matviivka and came on the first trolleybus.

Nina’s friend Anna moved to Mykolaiv from the Donetsk region. According to her, there is not enough money for rent, and groceries are also expensive.

“We will sit here until they tell us whether we will get the money or not. We want to receive at least some penny: renting an apartment is expensive, groceries are expensive,” — said Anna.

Earlier we wrote:

• 19,400 hryvnias per household: additional “Winter Support” addresses opened in Mykolaiv
• Mykolaiv residents being prepared to receive winter assistance of 19,400 UAH: who can apply — in Mykolaiv
• The state is distributing 6,500 hryvnias: who among Mykolaiv residents can already receive “Winter Support”
• Cash assistance from the UN: registration of citizens from vulnerable categories continues in Mykolaiv
• Applications for receiving cash assistance from the UN have been launched in Mykolaiv